The Promise of Rainbows Read Free Page B

wrong move. Her job was to help him with his house. Not help him.
    “Have you seen enough outside? There’s not much to see on the inside. That’s why I need your help.”
    She glanced around at the rest of the grounds. Tammy was meticulous when it came to meeting her client’s preferences. There was a fire pit and another water feature in the distance. Mini-rainbows seemed to dance and tumble in the air above the bubbling spray.
    “My mama always says there’s the promise of rainbows every morning when you wake up,” Susannah said with a small smile.
    He looked over at her sharply and then off in the distance, as if searching for them.
    “There’re a bunch of rainbows over by the water feature,” she added.
    He squinted. “I don’t see them.”
    “You don’t?” They were so obvious to her. “Maybe if we go closer you will.”
    They walked in the direction of the fountain, and by now, he was frowning.
    “I don’t see anything,” he mumbled with an edge of frustration.
    This time she did put her hand on his arm—he needed it, she could tell—and it was hard not to react to how hard, hot, and muscular it felt under her fingers.
    “Don’t worry,” she said in a cheery voice. “Maybe it’s just the way the sunlight is hitting the spray from my vantage point. Let’s go inside so you can show me the rest of your place.”
    When she moved off in the direction of the house, she realized he wasn’t following her. She stopped and retraced her steps. A scowl had spread across Jake’s clean-shaven jaw, and there was a surprising amount of desperation in his eyes.
    “I can’t see the rainbows,” he muttered. “You know, I’ve never seen one in my whole life. Can you believe that?”
    That caught her off guard for a moment, but rainbows weren’t exactly a common occurrence. It made sense that not everyone had been lucky enough to see one. But his desperation clearly went above and beyond rainbows, so it seemed best to table the subject. “I don’t know, Jake, but I know it’s upsetting you. Maybe you’ll see them later.”
    He kicked at the grass under his feet. “Okay, let’s go inside.”
    When they entered the house, she had to school her reaction. He hadn’t been exaggerating one bit. The house did need her. There was nothing on the walls, and most of the rooms were actually empty. With her busy client schedule, she’d fit him in as soon as she could, but if she’d known he was living this way, she would have done something temporary to dress up the place back in November.
    “I did tell you that I was going to have my former decorator remove all her stuff,” Jake said, picking up on her reaction. “Especially the dead stuffed animals. Man, that decorator lady really misread me.”
    Yes, she had. He wouldn’t want anything dead around him after being surrounded by so much death as a soldier. Had the woman not listened to his music? Susannah had. In truth, she couldn’t stop listening to it. His songs were all about losing friends in war and longing for home. The thought sparked something in her. Jake wanted a home here in Dare River, a safe sanctuary after everything he’d experienced.
    “Let’s talk about colors,” she said, glancing over at him. “Since you’re an artist, I know you have a sense about what you like. You certainly create a mood at your concerts.”
    “I like warm colors. And blues. The white walls aren’t working for me. I tried to tell that to the decorator lady. She thought it gave the house clean lines. Gave it a contemporary look.”
    “She didn’t listen to you.” Susannah fought the urge to ask who in the world he’d hired. “Some women think men don’t know a thing about color or decorating. Or that they like contemporary because it’s minimalist.”
    “Minimalist.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s like you know her.”
    “I know decorators like her,” she said cautiously. “I have a different approach.”
    “Good,” he said, nodding. “This